Assembly and mounting of solar cells on space vehicles or satellites

Abstract

A manufacturing apparatus for mounting an array of solar cells on a flexible support or panel comprising: a first roller having an axis and supporting a release carrier on which a sequence of solar cell assemblies are mounted on a spool and wound around the axis; a second roller having an axis parallel to the axis of the first roller and supporting a polyimide sheet having a sequence of pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) patches on which the solar cell assemblies are to be mounted; wherein the first and second rollers are aligned and rotate in the opposite directions (i.e., one clockwise and the other counter-clockwise) so that the release carrier and polyimide sheet are transported between the rollers in the same direction, and wherein as the release carrier and the polyimide sheet respectively are unwound from the first and second rollers, the sequence of PSA patches on the polyimide sheet each successively come in contact with the sequence of solar cell assemblies disposed on release carrier, and the respective rollers exert sufficient pressure on the polyimide sheet and the release liner to cause each solar assembly to make contact and be automatically transferred from the first side of release liner to the first side of the polyimide sheet and sequentially positioned on the PSA patches thereon.

1 . A manufacturing apparatus for mounting an array of solar cells on a flexible support comprising:
 a first roller having an axis and supporting a release carrier on which a sequence of solar cell assemblies are mounted on a spool and wound around the axis;   a second roller having an axis parallel to the axis of the first roller and supporting a polyimide sheet having a sequence of pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) patches on which the solar cell assemblies are to be mounted;   wherein the first and second rollers are aligned and operable to rotate in opposite directions from one another so that the release carrier and polyimide sheet are transported between the rollers in the same direction as one another, and wherein as the release carrier and the polyimide sheet respectively are unwound from the first and second rollers, the PSA patches on the polyimide sheet successively come in contact with the solar cell assemblies disposed on the release carrier, and the respective rollers exert sufficient pressure on the polyimide sheet and the release liner to cause each solar assembly to be transferred from a first side of the release liner to a first side of the polyimide sheet so as to be sequentially positioned on the PSA patches thereon.   
     
     
         2 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is operable to bond the solar cell assemblies to a first side of the flexible support by a sequence of discrete spaced-apart PSA patches. 
     
     
         3 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the first side of the flexible support is in the shape of, and congruent to the shape of, each respective solar cell assembly. 
     
     
         4 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein a second side of the flexible support has discrete predefined PSA regions thereon, each of which is shaped and sized to match a portion of a panel of a space vehicle or satellite. 
     
     
         5 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the flexible support is composed of (4,4′-oxydiphenylene-pyromellitimide) material. 
     
     
         6 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein a bottom surface of each of the solar cells is composed of metal and is bonded to the flexible support. 
     
     
         7 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein adjacent ones of the solar cells are separated from one another by a distance between 5 and 25 microns. 
     
     
         8 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein each of the solar cells has a dimension in the range of 0.5 to 10 mm on a side. 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the flexible support has a thickness of between 25 and 100 microns. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is operable to attach the solar cells to the flexible support in an adhesive-less manner. 
     
     
         11 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the PSA patches are double-sided, and the apparatus is operable to bond the solar cells to the first side of the polyimide sheet by the double-faced pressure-sensitive adhesive patches. 
     
     
         12 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 11 , wherein the second side of the polyimide sheet is configured for mounting on a metallic honeycomb structure. 
     
     
         13 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 11 , wherein each of the double-faced PSA patches is sized and shaped so that its shape matches, and is congruent to, that of a peripheral outline of respective ones of the solar cells. 
     
     
         14 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is operable to bond the double-faced PSA patched and the flexible support together by a co-curing process bond. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 11 , wherein each of the PSA patches is a single-layer PSA film. 
     
     
         16 . An apparatus as defined in as defined in  claim 15 , wherein each of the PSA patches is either a patterned or continuous layer disposed on the film. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 15 , wherein the PSA is an acrylic or a silicone adhesive. 
     
     
         18 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1  wherein the first roller is operable to rotate in clockwise direction and the second roller is operable to rotate in counter-clockwise direction. 
     
     
         19 . A method of mounting an array of solar cells on a support or panel in an automated manner, the method comprising:
 providing a release carrier on which a sequence of solar cell assemblies is mounted, the release carrier being mounted on a first spool and wound around the axis of the first spool;   providing a second spool having an axis parallel to the axis of the first spool and supporting a polyimide sheet having a sequence of pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) patches on which the solar cell assemblies are to be mounted; and   rotating the spools in opposite directions from one another so that the release carrier and polyimide sheet are transported between the spools in the same direction as one another such that the release carrier and the polyimide sheet are unwound respectively from the first and second spools;   wherein the PSA patches on the polyimide sheet come in contact with the solar cell assemblies disposed on the release carrier, and the respective spools exert sufficient pressure on the polyimide sheet and the release liner to cause each solar assembly to be transferred from a first side of the release liner to a first side of the polyimide sheet so as to be sequentially positioned on the PSA patches thereon.   
     
     
         20 . A method of fabricating a solar cell array module comprising:
 providing an aluminum honeycomb support;   providing a carbon composite face sheet having an array of solar cell assemblies mounted on a top side of the face sheet;   providing a pattern of discrete predefined pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) regions in an automated manner on a side of the honeycomb support opposite the face sheet; and   mounting a bottom side of the carbon composite face sheet on the honeycomb support.